"yeah. pretty much." erich nods. it had been a long strange trip for his friends. the valleys had been deep,but they all seemed to find their peaks. erich considers for a moment that it might look like he's purposefully leaving selene out of the conversation. looking back,he tried to think if he ever publicly mentioned her since ada's return. he had a terrible memory and didnt think that he did mention her. "um..so,like if i ever mention a selene cassadine. she's someone i've been seeing for a few years. she lives upstate,she's a label exec. " erich rather awkwardly informs ada. the likelihood of the two women ever meeting was virtually nil. but it was better to let ada know now rather than later and possibly in person with selene. ada would probably dislike the woman greatly. she could be horribly snobby and self centered. somehow,they have been together for years. probably because the two did not live together or spend all that much time with each other.
"look at you,super mom." erich grins when ada takes great care with her daughter's hair. "i was thinking you went old school punk rock and used kool aide. i think takara would love to have you dye her hair. she is a very outgoing child...if a little odd,but who isnt,right? eris.....eris is a rather serious child." erich says,looking over to marlena again. the two children were biologically half sisters. so perhaps ada would want to know something about eris.
with that out of the way,the question erich was supposed to ask was laying there. it was festering and starting to bloat. all comfort he had around ada was starting to recede and he croaked out, "so...whats been going on in your life?"

"oh." erich says with a bit of sadness in his voice. ada spoke of her career in the past tense. " you're done? " he asks,looking over to her. he was always a big fan of her work,even before he was romantically involved with her. she offered up something that was totally unique. "i have no idea how people stay in one place,myself. real life is...i dunno. hard." he admits,grinding a bit of gravel with his shoe.

"the same." erich says,giving a small laugh. he had forgotten ada did read his twitter output. if he was thinking,he probably wouldnt have posted that. he had no reason to,but still felt he should protect ada. old habits die hard or sometimes not at all. erich looks down at the ground,feeling very guilty about selene .he could hear the sadness in ada's laugh and he didnt like knowing he had caused it. "i waited." he tells the ground softly. he had waited longer than he should have until it was clear ada wasnt coming back. it was months after she left before he started on his tear through the realm of chemicals and questionable company. erich gives a snort of laughter when ada mentions kool aide and cults. "jesus." he says with a wide grin. he had always loved ada's sense of humor. the woman had an interesting take on the darkness of life at times.

when ada sighs,erich knows the heavy stuff is coming. he almost tells her to stop. they'll go back to talking about friends and their kids. there was no need to dredge up the past,they could just start over from today. but...her words came anyway. the wild rumor of her going to a cult were true. erich would have rather heard her say she just fell out of love with him. that would have involved less pain on her part. ada had more than her share of tragedy and it just seemed to keep piling on the poor woman. as she speaks,erich lifts his hands to reach out for hers or something. but where does one touch their ex wife? when she gets to the suicide attempt,erich finally decides to offer her his hand. he merely listened to her story. he wasnt going to pry,ask for clarification,what the cult did,was marlena safe when with ada's family. erich knew some of ada's family history and that did concern him when it came to marlena. "i...think i prefer the rumor where you ran off with a guy who looked like stu pickles and lived happily in new zealand." erich says finally. it could be a joke,but his tone implied that it was not. it was one thing to mentally wish hell upon ada for what happened,it was another to know she actually experienced it. he also worried about her being all alone here,if what marlena said was true. and the only thing more truthful than a child was a drunk. "i know i came off as an ass to you at first...but i'm glad you made it through." he tells her with a small smile. what does one say to such an intense story?

"i think lots of people would want to hear you." he says to ada warmly. "you dont want marlena to find out that only one of her parents is a rockstar. as weekend dad,i am automatically the fun one." erich chuckles,poking fun at the situation. it would be a long time before either he or ada would be ok with that sort of level of parenting.

ada's hand felt exactly as it always had and brought back many memories . some good,some bad. some just dull,every day stuff like doing dishes. touching her made the story she had told feel very real. it was almost like he could feel the pain on her skin. he did have to focus to not let his eyes drift down to her arms. were there new scars? maybe that is what the tattoos covered up. if that was the case...whew. she had a lot of scars. " the rumor had you two being rather happy." erich says sadly. reality had cheated her out of a better reason to have a divorce. he did leave out the part about how she was also rumored to have lost custody of marlena. " do you guys need anything? anything i can do?" erich offers. he felt guilty about having a fairly easy time while his ex wife did not. even if that wasnt the case,erich did enjoy helping people if he could.

"too fun." erich says with a smirk. he really couldnt do the day to day life for very long. he had tried with ada back then,but only felt real when on stage. otherwise,he felt he was boring to people. "i honestly dont know what or how i'm going to do with marlena." he admits to ada. he was aware he was still holding her hand,it felt natural to do. " so if performing is out. what..what do you do these days? life off the spoils of fame? lord knows i would,but...i dont do so well with boredom. last time i did? i bought a soviet rocket train. lets just say,i've never seen a train catch fire like that before." he chuckles.

erich did wonder what was up when ada started to laugh. especially when it wasnt bitter laughter at the wide distance between her rumor and her reality. he did get it when she did speak though. certainly a laugh to keep from crying moment. erich studied ada briefly as her laughter slowed. she very well could not be here with him now and that realization hit him rather suddenly. "it could have been a lot sadder.and i hear that stu pickles was quite the lover." he says with a little smirk. he had to do something to get around thinking of what could have been and what was. erich nods when ada says she doesnt need anything. he didnt expect she would. she had been doing this on her own for quite a while as is.

"exhibition? given the amount of people i know who are involved in the...um..frisky industry. im thinking it was anything but boring." erich laughs. he wasnt sure of how much of a protective layer ada had over marlena.so he didnt want the child to overhear anything ada didnt want her to. "i...dont know how just she and i would work. i'd definitely want erica or gretchen along too. the whole kid thing scares me." erich says,knowing most of what he would do with marlena would not be in new york,so it was probably not going to happen. "aww,you are super mom too? erica and gretchen want takara as innocent as she can be for as long as possible. you go the organic route too? taki seems to want to be a vegan. she was horrified to learn meat comes from animals." erich tells ada. he probably was far better with kids than he gave himself credit for. it was mainly just the pressure of marlena being "his".

" cmon.you know what i'm about,miss ada." erich laughs with a wink. there were few things that didnt turn erich's crank. art fell under that umbrella too. he looks around briefly and leans in close before whispering. "i know i'm in no position to ask for favors...but if you ever handle a britto...accidentally put your foot through it. six times." he asks,totally serious. there were loads of things that erich disliked,and romero britto and his art ranked at least in the top 30. "you seem to be doing a crack up job. marlena seems like an angel. just look at her. "erich says,happy that ada seems to really have found the groove of parenting and looks to have raised a great kid. she certainly wasnt the little bastard that billy's son was. that was the scariest part of this meeting. he could have dealt with never ending awkwardness with ada or even an argument. but a little kid who displayed huge red flags? nope. that wasnt for erich. "so...how should we tell marlena who i am?" erich says,knowing that sometime marlena would have to know. especially if they were to ever spend time together. "the vegan thing is all takara. erica isnt some nutty anti vaxxer or something. " erich says with a grin..and a hope that ada wasnt one of those sorts. if she was...well,this got a lot more awkward. erich wasnt sure how to respond to ada mentioning her food relationship. she had lost a lot of weight,which she already was starting to do towards the end of their relationship. going with the discretion is the better part of valor perspective.he let it lay. " are you kosher now? " erich asks in small surprise. he may have forgotten with all of the relationship memories he pushed out or just forgot, but he seemed to remember ada didnt keep kosher. "i can do organic. but the peanut butter is god awful.it would gag a maggot." erich laughs to ada. erica at home either bought all organic everything,or actually made it herself.

erich narrows his eyes at the mention of britto."yeah. thats the one. the guy who paints like picasso after getting kicked in the head by a mule. hell,the mule could do a better job after getting kicked in the head by picasso. " erich says sourly. there were certain flordia things he hated: jimmy buffet,britto,jimmy buffet and everything else in the state. the main saving grace was cafe risque., a trucker strip club/buffet. he had never gone,but it was a state institution. " those paintings just go right up at the slightest spark.nobody would blame you." he grins at ada. it was hard not to fall into the realm of calling her miss ada. it felt right. in spite of all that happened,the things he liked about ada were still there. "yeah...that probably is best." erich says in assessment of the suggestion of how to tell marlena. "i have no shame in admitting a therapist is far more intelligent that i. maybe we'll luck out and she'll just get tired of being around me. that'd save a very difficult conversation. we could tell her when she is like 30 or so." erich laughs but is very much expecting marlena to eventually reject him. in a small way,he kind of hopes she does. his life isnt one for kids and given marlena's genes...she is primed and ready for self destruction. "oh. so do you guys go to temple and what not?" erich asks,interested to see just what direction ada's life had taken. he wasnt sure about the cult,maybe it was religious,maybe it wasnt. so who knew what ada's beliefs were nowadays. it also was a good thing to know as much as one could about their children. "oh sh- crap! i guess she's at the age where she could tell us what she is allergic to,but whew. that could end up bad. anything else she is allergic to or doesnt like? i'm pretty sure anaphylactic shock isnt the best thing to get when visiting dad."

instinctively,erich squeezes ada's hand back. he smiled to her and then looked over to the side for a second. "i hope. i think i can coast at least a couple of months on novelty alone. getting her a buddy in takara might buy me a little more time." he says,half jokingly. he wasnt exactly sure how he could hold a child's interest for very long and semi regularly. but ada seemed to have faith in him and she had little reason to make that up. "29 and half. we cant be rushing things,miss ada. maybe we'll luck out and she'll find out on her own. " erich says hopefully. he watches marlena on the bars and having fun. it was hard to imagine that she was going to grow up one day. one day he would possibly be talking to a woman that he and ada made. would she make the same mistakes erich and ada had made? erich had lived his life as a cautionary tale,he guess he now saw who that tale was for. "it is important for her to know her roots. randy would love to meet her someday." erich offers as the only heritage of his that he deemed fit for marlena's consumption. erich's father had passed probably after ada left,erich couldnt work out the time line. definitely no loss for marlena there. his mother was still alive and still lived across the street from randy. but erich hadnt spoken to her in years. from what he could remember,she was a terrible alcoholic. "so no pineapple and no geese. got it." erich says,pretending to write in a notebook. " i love pineapple,but i understand about geese. those things are some right rat bas- jerks. they are jerks of the bird world." erich wasnt too keen on the fact there could still be developing allergies. "maybe you should come along for the first few times. we'll feed her little bits of everything and have 911 all cued up."

"We'll have to check takara's schedule. She is a super busy child. Finger painting,dog petting..she is just slammed for the next month or so." Erich jokes to Ada. It would be nice to have Ada and Marlena back with taki. It almost made erich sad as that is how it was supposed to be. It just took a long time to get there. Also,he wasn't sure if erica would approve of Ada knowing the real reason she hadnt been seen in public for nearly 9 months. If all went well, Ada would have more than enough friends. Granted,she pulled through some insanely tough things all on her own,erich didn't want her all alone again. Erich looks over at Marlena, up to their old home and back to Ada. She did bring a good point about Marlena finding out on her own exactly where she came from...and the chaos that surrounded her at one time. And to be frank, had the potential to still be around her. " yeah... I guess you are right. There is the also the chance anyone could ask either of us about the past with Her in earshot." Erich nods in agreement. The internet and it's permanent memory could be a bastard sometimes. Then Erich's face lights up. "Or...and hear me out on this. I find something so bat poop insane and do it. It'll take up the first 4 pages of a Google search and she'll never know." Erich says looking very satisfied with his plan. " I'm thinking something involving Branson." While new York was a city he hated,Branson was his arch nemesis. He was loathed there,even though his Elvis and tom Jones shows had rave reviews. "Randy always liked you. So it'll make him pleased as punch to see you two again." Erich says rather optimistically.. The longer they spoke,the more of their past relationship became more vivid in memory. It was egotistical, but it was far easier to accept Ada back into his life knowing she hadn't left him for someone else. Even if she had,for Marlena's sake, he probably still would accept Ada. But it probably wouldn't be such an easy clicking into place. Erich takes a deep breath as Ada brings up the rather stern,Swiss\Belgian elephant in the room. He wasn't exactly sure if Karoliena had spoken to as Ada. Karoliena had certainly made her feelings known to Erich when this whole thing started. "I'm going to assume you mean everyone's favorite dominatrix?" Erich says looking over to Ada. He wasn't sure what Karoliena said to Ada,if she said anything. But if it was anything like she said to Erich...it was beyond cruel. Karoliena loathed Ada and had no problem voicing this. " Ada... Karoliena hates you for what you did. She is... Surprisingly sensitive and takes everything personal. Through it all, I've always sort of defended you. So i think maybe she thinks it's her place to take up the anger she thinks I should have. I tried to get her to understand more about you, but you know. Some parts of your life aren't my story to tell." Erich tries to explain the dynamic between he and Karoliena. It probably was sad that Erich would defend his ex wife. But he sort of gave her a pass because of her past. "Her wife,Cassie couldn't care less one way or the or the other. Erica had no choice but to accept you." Erich laughs warmly at this part of the rundown of thoughts on the Ada situation. " Gretchen is.. Persuasive. Don't let the blonde hair and boobs fool you. She's Austrian all the way through. So stubborn, but in a good way." Erich chuckles. Gretchen was a wonderful addition to the group. She was very much at peace and wanted everyone else at peace too..or else. " um..selene, you'll probably never see. I....dont think you two would get along. Picture the exact opposite of me. That is her. She works like.....4 blocks that way." Erich points over to the south.

Erich cracked up at Ada's use of pencil in. It was one of his favorite phrases. He did hope that a part of him would have a friendship with a part of Erica. Continue the legacy,so to speak. Biologically eris did, but he didn't count her. Marlena had quite a life of discovery ahead of her. She was brought into the world by and around some eccentric people. Aunt Erica was a chapter in and of herself. Erich nods in agreement at the prospect of just telling Marlena. " yeah. We should just rip the band aid off. I don't like keeping it from her. Not even for these few moments. It's not like there wasn't happiness around her coming into the world." There was far worse things to surround ones birth than what Marlena had. She did have two parents that loved her and each other. It's not like she was the product of a one night stand in a Denny's restroom. Erich inahles slightly at the confirmation of Karoliena contacting Ada....and it not being exactly pleasant. " um...like,how not charming?" Erich asks carefully. Where did Karoliena take things? Did she go for mentioning that she thought Erich traded up with selene? Or did she go straight for the self harm issues? Erich sighed heavily before adding," I'll talk to her." He wasn't looking forward to it, but this was his life and not hers. Erich hesitated before lightly touching Ada's back. Somehow she seemed even more fragile than before. Erich looked down slightly when asked about selene. It felt wrong to even have this conversation with ada. He squinted over towards the direction where selene probably was before looking back to ada. She was probably just being polite,so he answered fairly briefly. " yeah. This is probably best described by the fact she drives a land Rover." He laughs a short laugh to Ada. It felt wrong and odd to be having this conversation. He seemed to remember Ada being rather jealous of any women he knew. Now,he was talking about a girlfriend with her. " i..um..seem to remember commenting on some instagram post of her. She assumed i was just some creep until people made a big deal about it. She then learned i was a famous creep." Erich laughs nervously. Being put this way made it sound far more lecherous than it was. He almost asked Ada about anyone in her life, but Marlena seemed certain that Ada had no friends.


Ooc: that erich meeting selene story is missing parts i don't remember. It did start like that, but i forget where it went from one part to another. But i assure you, he wasn't like "nice ass,baby." To random women on the internet. He also had to work tp gain her favor. Miss japan started more seriously into school shortly after and the pair really never developed.

Erich also watches their daughter. He didn't know her, or how she might react. Would she really care? Would she ask the hard question: why doesn't dad live with them? Erich inhales a long breath in preparation. He gives Ada a slow nod before finally exhaling. If there was any time he could use a drink,it's now. "Can i request for my ice cream to be irished up?" He asks in a not really a joke. This was the point of no return. The proposed meeting of takara and erica were fantasy until this threshold was stepped over. Ada seemed quite intent that Karoliena not know about this conversation. Erich could appreciate that line of thought. Karoliena could be intimidating. Pants shittingly so. "All right. I'll let it be. "Erich says after Ada voices her concerns. He knew the times Karoliena referred to. He had put a lot on her after Ada left. Things still weren't normal between the pair. Once Karoliena's respect was lost, it wasn't easily gained back. " yeah...that wasn't really your fault. We both know I'm not the most responsible person. I certainly didn't ask her to take me in. " Erich says, taking some semblance of responsibility for his actions. Which was far closer to being a normal human being than he liked. He was already making plans on doing something outlandish after this. He was thinking of the old car in the pool trick. Erich knew Ada well enough to hear the tone in her voice and the curt appraisal of the selene story. She probably most certainly did not believe the words she spoke. "She is." He says . he didn't really know what to say. He didn't want to seem to downplay his relationship,but he didn't want to hurt Ada. He became aware he was still touching Ada's back. He considered stopping, but it would be like twisting the knife in her.


If Erich ever brought it up to Karoliena, i can see him doing it like miss puff when spongebob came to her about being bullied: don't worry,I used your name.